Leadership Training for New CRC Leaders and the Selection of District CRC Federation Members

A two-day leadership training for the newly elected leaders of the child rights clubs (CRC) in Bangalore urban was organised by BOSCO Bangalore under the CREAM project at BOSCO Nilaya on 21-22 October 2019. A total of 40 CRC leaders from 20 schools participated in the training and 9 teachers accompanied the children during the two-day training. The chief dignitaries present on the occasion were Fr. Joyce Thonikuzhiyil sdb- Provincial, Salesian Province of Bangalore; Fr. Mathew Thomas sdb- Executive Director, BOSCO Bangalore; Fr. Regi Jacob sdb- Director, CREAM Project, Bangalore; Ms. Rekha from the Block Resource Center, South-2; Mr. Jagadish- Cluster Resource Person, K. P. Agrahara- South-2; Akshitha and Niranjan- CRC representatives.

Ms. Tanisha from Nehru Makkala Sangha child rights club anchored the inaugural ceremony. In the keynote address, Fr. Regi insisted upon the duty of children to ensure that there were no school dropouts in their respective communities; that each of them access their rights and join the system in the prevention of child rights violations. Fr. Joyce, in his presidential address, presented the example of a bouquet and recalled the efforts of people who worked hard to bring the flowers and emphasised that one needs to help the other to grow in life and thus human efforts play a huge role in moulding of a person.

After the inaugural session, Mr. Surendra, Teacher, Sri Siddalingeshwara School, Magadi Road conducted a session on the uses and disadvantages of the mobile phone in the context of children. He also explained safety measures when using mobile phones and the ill-effects on children with regard to health and education. It was followed by a session by Fr. Prasad Xavier sdb- Director, Childline, Bengaluru on self-awareness, leadership qualities and team building.

Ms. Swaroopa, Supervisor, ICDS, handled the next session on gender equality and equity. The session included topics on schemes of ICDS (Bhagyalakshmi scheme), abortions on minor children with special reference to health and psychological issues. The final session on the first day was led by Mr. Arul Das, theatre artist. He illustrated the rights and violations of child rights through drama and performance. During the session the children assumed the roles of children in distress situations, acting out roles very responsibly and creating critical analysis on social issues.

On the second day, Mr. Ramaswamy- Coordinator, CREAM Bangalore recapped the learning of the first day. Thereafter, Fr. Varghese Pallipuram sdb continued the session on child rights and rights violations. Few case studies were presented to the children and they were asked to identify the incidents of child rights violations in them. With these examples, Fr. Varghese explained the contribution of child care institutions to children’s rights, ill effects of drug addictions among children, role of parents in bringing up the children and the child protection mechanisms. Mr. Shivamallu- Coordinator, Foster Care, explained to the children the importance of parenting and the procedures of foster care. In the next session, Fr. Regi conducted an activity oriented session on team spirit, problem solving and the process of advocacy. In the final session, Mr. Ramaswamy facilitated the selection of new office bearers for the district CRC federation. He also briefed them about the purpose of the CRC federation, its duties and functions. The two-day training ended with a short ceremony and the distribution of certificates to the participants.